| Developing A Successful Mining House |
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Source: ASX, price delayed by at least 20 minutes Riversdale Mining Limited is a mining company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange under the ASX code RIV. The Company intends to develop as a diversified mining finance house, focused on growth through investment in suitable mining opportunities. It is the company’s intention to assemble a portfolio of suitable assets through rapid growth for the benefit of all our shareholders, and emerge as a diversified mid-tier mining house with excellent returns on shareholder funds, a strong orientation to growth, and a pipeline of projects. Zululand Anthracite Colliery (ZAC) On 1 December 2005 Riversdale completed the acquisition of 74% in ZAC, an operating underground anthracite mine located in the Zululand coalfield of northern Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The run of mine (ROM) coal production was 799,196 tonnes for the year ended 30 June 2007 (2006: 741,144 tonnes), resulting in a saleable production of prime low ash of 518,751 tonnes and middlings of 142,466 tonnes. Product sales for the year ended 30 June 2007 was 785,995 (2006: 502,703). At the 30 June 2007 ZAC had Coal Resources of over 40.7 million tonnes of coal in situ and the mine life has been extended to 16 years at current production levels. Mozambique Coal Project The Company became a leading coal enterprise in a major emerging coal region following an agreement to acquire the following exploration tenements in Mozambique: - 16 coal bearing tenements covering an area of 203,460 hectares located in the Lower Zambezi Coal Basin were acquired during October 2006. - 7 tenements covering an area of 86,620 hectares located in the Tete province were acquired during August 2007. These tenements are contiguous with tenements already held by Riversdale and those held by one of the world’s largest mining groups, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD). The combined tenement size now held by Riversdale is in excess of 290,000 hectares and positions the Company as the largest tenement holder in the Tete-Moatize area, with an extensive area capable of supporting long life operations in this emerging and highly prospective region. The region is within economic reach of the East African coast, with access to the port of Beira by means of a railway line from Moatize that is being rehabilitated. The railway line is scheduled to be operational from mid 2009. During November 2007 Riversdale announced a major Coal Resource in its Mozambique coal project. This follows several months of exploration and drilling programs at the Company’s highly prospective Benga License in the Moatize district of Mozambique. Based on the drilling results undertaken by Riversdale, the total Coal Resource is estimated at 1.225 billion tonnes categorized as Inferred Resources and is in accordance with the JORC Code 2004. Of this, a total of 720 million tonnes is considered to have the potential to be extracted by open-cut methods. Based on the initial washability analysis results, the potential coal products, after beneficiation, which could be produced from Benga include: - An export hard coking coal at 10% ash - A secondary thermal coal product, consisting of an export thermal coal (approximately 20% ash) and/or a domestic thermal coal (approximately 35% ash). The Company has also confirmed two distinct areas in the northern part of the licence area as having open-pit potential. The Benga Licence covers an area of 4,560 hectares and represents less than 2% of the Company’s total tenement areas. The stated resource refers only to the northern section of the Benga Licence. Tata Steel Joint Venture The Company signed a shareholders agreement with the global steel group Tata Steel Limited on 30 November 2007. Under the JV, Tata will acquired a 35% interest in the Benga and Tete exploration tenements, which cover an area of 24,960 hectares in Mozambique. A special purpose joint venture vehicle has been established to develop the coal project. Consideration for the acquisition of the 35% Project Interest is A$100 million for which Tata secures a key position in the joint venture, as well as a 40% share of the coking coal off-take and the option to participate on commercial terms above this level. Tata will also be strategically positioned to participate with Riversdale in any future opportunities on the surrounding tenements. |